The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its 2024 football schedule – the first under a new scheduling model with 17 total teams – Wednesday night during a two-hour special ACC Huddle: 2024 Football Schedule Release Show on ACC Network and simulcast on ESPN2.

The upcoming 72nd season of ACC Football will operate under a recently announced seven-year schedule model from 2024 to 2030. Every team will have eight conference games per season and all 17 teams will face each other at least twice in the next seven years – once at home and once away. The existing 14 conference teams will also play three times in California over this period, with no consecutive seasons of westward travel.

The 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Football schedule holds great importance for many reasons. ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. expressed excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season, which will feature new additions Cal, SMU, and Stanford. The membership worked diligently to create a fair and balanced schedule, prioritizing the experience of student-athletes. The schedule includes first-time matchups, intense rivalry games, and tough non-conference opponents, ensuring a high level of interest in ACC Football throughout the season.

The updated schedule will maintain its unifying structure and involve a total of 17 schools. Additionally, the number of conference games per year will go up from 56 to 68. The two highest-ranking teams based on their winning percentage in the conference will face off in the ACC Football Championship Game, which will take place on the first Saturday of December at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Annual Rivalries

• Beginning in 2024, the updated scheduling system will safeguard 16 yearly games. 11 of these games will be carried over from the previous 3-5-5 model, while two rivalries from the divisional format – Miami vs. Virginia Tech and NC State vs. Wake Forest – will be reinstated. Additionally, three new yearly games have been added with the inclusion of the University of California (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU), and Stanford University. These 16 games will be spread out over seven weeks during the season, with five of them taking place on the last Saturday (November 30) of the regular season.

On September 27th, Miami will be hosting Virginia Tech.

, 2020

The game between North Carolina and Duke on September 28, 2020.

Clemson and Florida State will be playing against each other on October 5th.

On October 5th, Wake Forest will play against NC State.

On October 19th, the game between SMU and Stanford will take place.

Syracuse at Pitt – Oct. 24

, 7:30pm

On October 26 at 7:30pm, Florida State and Miami will face off.

On October 26th, the North Carolina Tar Heels will face off against the Virginia Cavaliers.

On Nov. 9, Syracuse will play at Boston College.

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On November 9th, Duke will be playing against NC State.

, 1892

On November 23, 1892, Stanford played against Cal.

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Cannot reword. This is a notification for an event on November 30th at 5:30 p.m. at Southern Methodist University.

On November 30th, Pittsburgh will face off against Boston College.

On November 30th, NC State will be playing against North Carolina.

On November 30th, Duke and Wake Forest will face off in a game.

The date of the Virginia versus Virginia Tech game is November 30th.

Week 0 – Kick Off the Season in Ireland with ESPN’s College Gameday Built by The Home Depot

In the 2024 season, two teams from the ACC, Florida State and Georgia Tech, will make history by participating in Week 0. This event will be broadcasted live by ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot for the first time ever outside of the United States. The location for the broadcast will be Dublin, Ireland, where the Aer Lingus College Football Classic will take place on Saturday, August 24 as the official start to the 2024 season.

Florida State has been featured on ESPN’s College GameDay debut episode in 1993 and will now be making its 35th appearance. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, will be making its sixth appearance on the pregame show.

Week 1 – Full Slate of Football over Labor Day Weekend

From August 29th to September 2nd, there will be a total of 16 games played over the course of five days, showcasing all 17 ACC football teams during Labor Day Weekend.

On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Labor Day holiday weekend kicks off with three games: a rematch between North Carolina and Minnesota, NC State hosting Western Carolina, and Wake Forest’s home opener against North Carolina A&T.

On August 30th, Friday, Stanford will welcome TCU as their new member, while Duke will start their first season with new head coach Manny Diaz by playing against Elon at home.

• Saturday’s schedule features three exciting games between ACC and SEC teams, including the 2024 Aflac Kickoff Game between Clemson and Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, an in-state rivalry game as Miami travels to Florida, and Virginia Tech on the road against Vanderbilt. Other games to look out for include Pitt’s home opener against Kent State, Syracuse hosting Ohio, and Louisville facing off against Austin Peay. In-state matchups on Saturday include Cal hosting UC Davis, Georgia Tech taking on Georgia State, SMU playing against Houston Christian, and Virginia hosting Richmond.

Boston College will head to Tallahassee, Florida to face off against defending ACC Champions Florida State on Labor Day Monday. This continues the tradition of the ACC playing on Labor Day, with this being the 15th consecutive year (excluding the 2020 COVID season) and the 18th year since Florida State and Miami played on that day in 2005.

Thursday and Friday night football games of the ACC

The ACC worked together with its schools and ESPN to adjust the dates of Thursday and Friday games in order to avoid having any schools play on short rest. This was done with the intention of creating a schedule that would not put any school at a disadvantage.

During the initial 13 weeks of the season, teams in the ACC will participate in a total of 14 games on Thursday and Friday evenings. This includes 15 different schools and the games will be hosted by 11 different institutions. Notable matchups on these nights include Virginia Tech against Miami on Sept. 27 and Florida State at Duke on Oct. 18.

On Thursday, October 17, Boston College will face off against Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium to mark the 30th anniversary of ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime. The following day, Friday, September 20, Stanford and Syracuse will play each other in the first ACC game for the Cardinal. This game will also honor the 44th anniversary of the Orange’s first game in the JMA Wireless Dome, which was on September 20, 1980 when they hosted Miami (Ohio).

Making ACC Debuts

The upcoming ACC season will see Cal, SMU, and Stanford as the newest additions to the conference. Each team will have their first ACC game at different points in the season. Stanford will have the earliest ACC game, facing Syracuse on Friday, Sept. 20. Cal will play their first conference game the next day against Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 21. The following weekend, SMU will have their first-ever ACC game at home against Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 28.

In Week 6, both Cal and Stanford will have their initial ACC game at home. The event, known as “ACC Football Day in the Bay,” will feature Cal facing Miami and Stanford hosting Virginia Tech in The Golden State on Saturday, October 5th.

Initial Conference Meetings to Take Place in Upcoming Games

In the upcoming 2024 football season, there will be eight new matchups in the ACC, each occurring in a different week. Cal will have their first-ever games against Florida State, NC State, and Wake Forest, while Stanford will have their debut matches against Syracuse, NC State, and Louisville. SMU will also have two new opponents in 2024: Florida State and Virginia.

, 1986

On September 20, 1986, the Stanford football team played against Syracuse.

, 12 PM

Florida State will host Cal on September 21 at 12 PM.

On September 28th, SMU will host Florida State.

, 7:00 PM

The game between NC State and Cal will take place on October 19th at 7:00 PM.

, 2019

On November 2, 2019, Stanford will play against NC State.

, 1997

The game between Cal and Wake Forest took place on November 8, 1997.

The game between Louisville and Stanford will take place on November 16th.

, 7:00 PM

On November 23rd at 7:00 PM, SMU will play against Virginia.

Challenging Non-Conference Slate

The ACC’s non-conference schedule remains one of the toughest in the nation. Along with facing 26 Power Conference teams (11 from the SEC, five from the Big Ten, five from Notre Dame, four from the Big 12, and one from Oregon State), the ACC will also have 10 non-conference games against teams that were ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Eleven schools, including Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, have scheduled two Power Conference teams (including Notre Dame) for their non-conference games.

ACC teams will compete in 34 non-conference games against opponents who participated in a bowl game last year.

The ACC teams are scheduled to compete in 10 non-conference matches against teams listed in ESPN’s 2024 Way-Too-Early Top 25.

Notre Dame Opponents in Games

In 2024, ACC teams will have five non-conference games scheduled against Notre Dame. Out of the five, four will take place at Notre Dame’s home field in South Bend, Indiana.

, 2019

On September 28, 2019, Louisville and Notre Dame will play against each other.

, 7:30pm

The football game between Stanford and Notre Dame will take place on October 12th at 7:30pm.

, 7:00 PM

The game between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech will take place on October 19 at 7:00 PM.

On November 9, Florida State will play against Notre Dame.

, 2019

On November 16, 2019, Virginia will be playing against Notre Dame.

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The ACC Football Championship Game is a highly anticipated event.

The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game is scheduled to take place on December 7 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game will showcase the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage. The ACC and the Charlotte Sports Foundation have reached an agreement to host the championship game in Charlotte until the 2030 season.

Source: wralsportsfan.com